Nonlinguistic Representation

Classroom Context #1:

I would like to try this strategy in my 7th grade Social Studies class next year.  This class will be comprised of about 30 7th graders ranging in interests and abilities.  Likely I will have a handful of students who are in the Special Ed or ELL programs at my school.  I will have these students for both Language Arts and Social Studies and due to this increased time spent together, I hope to quickly build respect and rapport.  I will try this strategy as we begin to study the American Revolution, which will be a few weeks into the new school year.

Grade Level Standards:

EALR: 4. HISTORY The student understands and applies knowledge of historical thinking, chronology, eras, turning points, major ideas, individuals, and themes in local, Washington State, tribal, United States, and world history in order to evaluate how history shapes the present and future.

Component: 4.2 Understands and analyzes casual factors that have shaped major events in history.

  • 4.2.1 Understands and analyzes how individuals and movements have shaped Washington State or world history.

Learning Goal:

I can explain what drove the colonists to declare independence from Great Britain.

 Description of Implementation:

  • After learning about the context in which the American Revolution took place, I will ask students to imagine that they were there.  I will tell them to play close attention to what occurs in their minds as they read about colonists as they begin to organize to oppose the British policies.  They will consider how people might feel about not having a say in the rules they must follow.  I will ask them to think about where they see themselves and what they see, hear, taste, and feel.  This will generate a mental picture in which students visualize emotions.
  • Later in this unit, I will ask them to fill out a graphic organizer describing the relationships in the content being learned.  In this, they will describe time-sequences, generalization patterns, and cause and effect.

Instructional Artifacts:

Thought Process Activity

Cause and Effect Graphic Organizer

Classroom Context #2:

I would like to try this strategy in my Introduction to World Language Class.  This class will be comprised of about 30 6th and 7th graders.  This is an elective that the students have chosen to take.  I will work closely with the Spanish teacher who will also be teaching this class.  We will plan together and switch students at the quarter so that students get exposure to French and Spanish in a quarter long timeframe.   I will try this strategy as we begin the year to reinforce our vocabulary.

World Language Standard:

Communication

Communicate in Languages Other Than English

Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.

Learning Goal:

I can list body parts. 

Description of Implementation:

  • To reinforce vocabulary, I will have students create notecards with a French word on one side and a drawing of the object on the other side.  Students will draw or create symbolic pictures that represent the vocabulary learned and aid retention.  They can use these notecards to study the vocabulary.
  • In addition, I will have students engage in kinesthetic activity to help them learn and remember the vocabulary.  Students will play sing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes while touching the body part that is being sung.

Instructional Artifacts:

Body Parts Notecards:

Electronic Body Parts Notecards

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes